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Barney Frank to retire

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) will announce Monday that he is not seeking re-election, ending a 32-year career in the House.

Frank, 71, is the top Democrat on the Financial Services Committee and the architect, with former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), of the sweeping Wall Street regulatory reform law enacted in 2010.

He is scheduled to hold a press conference at 1 p.m. in his district, according to a spokesman, who said the congressman would announce at that time the reason for his decision. His retirement will deprive the House of one of its most colorful characters, a man known for his quick and often caustic wit.

And also known for being one of the most vociferous defenders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, claiming there was no problem while those two agencies were at the core of the building sub-prime mortgage disaster. He’s also been a loud advocate of raising taxes and gutting the defense budget. Saying he has a “caustic wit” is a euphemism; he truly is one of the biggest jackasses in our national life. Congress can only be improved by his absence.

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13 thoughts on “Barney Frank to retire”

I’m wondering: did he jump or was he pushed? It’s not like a liberal to voluntarily give up any position of power. They like the perks and (more important) the ability to dictate to us peasants and control every aspect of our lives.

I’m guessing that the powers that be in the Democrat party nudged him to quit. Unsurprisingly, Dodd-Frank has been a colossal failure. Dodd is already gone. But if Frank were to run for another term, the GOP congressional campaigns nationwide would have a ready-made ad: a picture of Frank and dire warnings that more irresponsible legislation like Dodd-Frank is on the way if you let THIS man run the Financial Services committee, so vote for your local Republican.

I wonder if NAMBLA is scared of a nasty story brewing up with Barney Frank? Perhaps he touched a young boy just like the sandboi did at Penn State? Who knows what’s in Barney Frank’s closet? What will come out of his closet?\:d/

I’d sure be interested in a couple of investigations that will never happen:

First, I’d be interested in finding out why no one was arrested and tried for running a male prostitution ring out of the basement of his house.

And second, I’d be interested to know how much bigger Frank’s bankroll is now as compared to when he was first elected. My guess is it is multiples of what it was then, and probably multiples of his listed income from the Senate over the years, too.

Not that I think the guy’s a scoundrel and a thief, but he’s a Democrap and Democraps are scoundrels and thieves, especially if in elected office.

This will make Maxine Waters the ranking D on the House Banking committee, and the leadership can’t have wanted that.

True, Phineas, but as far as Dodd-Frank and other past blunders are concerned, Waters has a clean bill of health. Her name isn’t on any of those disasters. Is she just as bad as Frank, maybe worse? No doubt. But it’s more difficult for the GOP to use her as the face of the housing disaster than Frank.